CBI seized ‘unrelated’ files

Unlike in much of India, Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-run local government does not have absolute administrative powers over the state.

THE office of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Principal Secretary was on Tuesday raided by CBI in a corruption case triggering a fresh face-off between the AAP and Centre and a vicious political slugfest in which the AAP chief spewed venom against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He also spoke about Kejriwal’s claim that the CBI officials were looking for “cricket-oriented” files relating to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and demanded setting up of a joint parliamentary committee to go into various aspect of the agency’s functioning.

Kejriwal claimed there were financial irregularities in the DDCA when Jaitley was president of the association.

He has been accused of setting up various companies to give work contracts without tenders which has resulted in a huge loss to the Delhi government.

She said Rajendra, a 1989 batch IAS officer of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, allegedly facilitated an award of five contracts worth Rs.9.5 crore to ICSIL and Endeavour Systems during 2007-2014.

Insisting that the Delhi CM has not been raided, he said, “No wrong has been done”.

Earlier, Kejriwal said Jaitley’s assertion that AAP’s allegations against him are “unsubstantiated and non-specific” could not be treated as “gospel truth” as the charges against him were “very, very serious”. “The investigating team is developing certain crucial leads provided by Mr. Kumar”, said a CBI spokesperson, refusing to divulge any details.

The CBI sealed the entire third floor, where the office is situated. Similar arrogance was at display today when his B-Team made a lame attempt to throw mud at the Finance Minister of the country without even doing the due diligence. CBI spokesman Devpreet Singh said searches were conducted with warrants, and that Kejriwal’s office was not searched.

“When Modi couldn’t handle me politically, he resorts to this cowardice”, said Kejriwal.

“If you see the seizure memo, the kind of files that were seized including the cabinet decisions and file movement registers, I do not understand the connection they have with the alleged scams for which the raids were conducted”, he added. Sisodia asked, claiming misuse of CBI by the Centre.

Three ministers of the Delhi government – Transport Minister Gopal Rai, Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra and Women and Child Welfare Minister Sandip Kumar – reached their respective offices located on other floors of the Delhi Secretariat.